Meeting With My Professor

I recently met with my English teacher to discuss the details of my final paper. This proved very useful because prior to the meeting I was unclear about the guidelines. Sitting down one-on-one with a teacher is a different experience than being in the classroom with other students, and I was able to ask all the questions I wanted without concerns about wasting class time. The meeting was short, but I was able to get a lot of good information because she was only addressing me.

My Major

I have always known that I wanted to go into a science or math based field. Engineering at GT was my first choice, but at GSU I am majoring in physics. Physics has always interested me, and the classes associated with my major sound very appealing at this school.

Classes

I am doing well in most of my classes, but when I was placed in the wrong FLC, therefore placed in classes that are not necessary for me to take. I am not doing so well in political science, global issues. This class is terrible and the teacher is not engaging in the slightest. I will most likely fail this class, but I will focus very hard in my other subjects so that my GPA does not drop significantly.

Useful Applications

The most useful academic applications on my phone are my unit converter and flash card app. In physics class there are many conversions that need to be done, and when I am trying to do a lot of conversions in one problem it is faster to put it into the app. Flash card apps are great because you don't have to carry around a bunch of note cards that could get bent, ripped, or lost.

Good Teachers

A good teacher is one that engages students in class without pressuring them to answer questions. A good teacher can make any subject interesting on some level. I learn best when I am interested in the subject and have a personable teacher that I can relate to or easily approach.

Questions

How do I get more involved in student life without living on campus?

How can I view my grades during the semester? None of my teachers use desire2learn as they promised.

How can I stay on track with work, school, and social life?

My first semester

GSU is a much different school than I had initially anticipated. I originally planned to attend Georgia Tech, but after being denied acceptance I decided to attend GSU. Many people in grades before me from my high school graduated and go to GSU, but most of them had negative things to say about classes. They would tell me how GSU is really just a bigger version of our high school, all drama included. This did not give me hope, but I should have known better than to listen to a bunch of my peers whine. This school is fantastic, and the physics program that I am in has a lot of promising courses set for my future. This semester has gone better than I expected, but semesters to come will be even better. I am moving out of my parents' house this winter break, and that freedom will allow me to really take control of my life and focus on school.

Highs And Lows

The high points of my college career thus far have been personal maturity and seeing new faces. I can not express the extent at which I was tired of seeing the same people everyday in high school. At GSU, I see new people every time I turn my head, and it is truly a breath of fresh air. Personal maturity has come from the responsibility that I have assumed by choosing to move out of my parents house into an house with my friends. The amount of self discipline that it has taken to avoid falling behind on school work has also helped me develop into a more mature young adult. 

The low points consist of work overload stress and loss of great friends. Although inevitable, losing many of my close friends to out-of-state universities has been the worst part of college. While I know that I will make many new friends, I had formed a tight circle of great friends that I trusted from years of knowing them and that is something that simply takes time. The overload of work comes strictly from my calculus 2 class, which, at times, seems to be too much for me. Whenever I feel over my head in mathematical concepts, I try to just calm down and look to YouTube for guidance. 

Transitions

We all have to make transitions, mentally and physically, in our lives. The transition process from high school to college has been a huge transformation. Admittedly, I underestimated the amount of adjustment I would make to my daily life once a student at GSU, but it has all been for the better. Academics have become a much more serious aspect of my life, but balancing school with social life and work has proven to be quite a circus act. Too often I find myself operating consciously solely due to liquid energy. Too often I see my bank funds dwindle to unnervingly low levels just before my next paycheck is deposited. I am adjusting to college to the best of my abilities, but I know I have so much to learn out here on my own.